(Newswire.net — March 26, 2021) — During the global pandemic, many people have felt lonely and cut off from their friends. Especially for people who had previously traveled frequently, being separated from their friends has been extremely difficult.
Loneliness can lead to mental health problems like anxiety, and it is a good idea for everyone to stay in touch with their friends as much as possible. Fortunately, technology has given us many great ways to keep up with friends all over the world.
Daniel Murphy explains how people can use modern technology to keep in touch with old friends and make new ones.
Making Friends All Over The World
In the past, Daniel Murphy worked for a cruise ship line. He met hundreds of interesting people from all over the world, from countries as diverse as India, Croatia, and Bulgaria. His friends spoke many languages and shared their cultures with him. Murphy has nurtured his connections with these friends via social media like Facebook messenger.
How to Stay In Touch
It is important to make a concerted effort to stay in touch with friends during the pandemic. Many people are stressed and upset, and they may let their friendships go in favor of activities that are necessary for survival. It is a good idea to keep communication lines open as much as possible because your friends may need your support.
When you are looking for ways to stay in touch with your friends, you may want to choose social media as a way to do so. All social media sites are a good way to keep up with your friends and family, but each site has its own pluses and minuses. Daniel Murphy goes over each of the most popular social media sites and explains how they can benefit from making and keeping friendships.
Facebook has been one of the top ways that people have continued to stay in touch with their friends during the pandemic. The site is known as the “front page” of the Internet. It is the largest social media site, and you will be most likely to find many people who share your interests here. Facebook also has a Messenger program that is excellent for private text, audio, and video chats.
Twitter is a good place to meet people with similar interests. The major social interaction of Twitter is “retweeting,” or sharing someone else’s post to promote it online. Twitter users can also influence the news media and other parts of society. If you are a tech-savvy person with a lot of niche interests, Twitter may be the right place for you.
Instagram is centered around sharing photos and videos. It is another great place to find people with similar interests using the hashtag feature. If you enjoy taking travel or food photos or sharing short videos, Instagram may be your new favorite social media site.
Making New Friends Online
You may be looking for a way to expand your social network during the pandemic. Perhaps your existing friends have reduced their time online, or perhaps you are simply looking for new people to chat with. Either way, it can be a little challenging to make new friends online, but it is definitely worth doing.
One of the best ways to make new friends online is to join interest groups. Facebook has an excellent groups area that will let you search and find groups that match your interests. You can find groups for people who love cats, classic cars, international travel, drawing, and thousands of more interests. It is easy to chat with prospective friends in your groups and decide whether you might want to add them to your social circle.
You can also find online friends outside of social media. This is a more “old-fashioned” way of making friends, but you may find people who are more dedicated to the interests you share. Try looking for fansites or message boards for the interests you want to pursue.
Cautions When Meeting People Online
It may seem like it doesn’t have to be said in 2021, but not everyone online should be your friend. There may be scammers and others with bad intentions waiting for a mark. Above all, it is a red flag if any new friend asks you for money or personal information. If this happens, simply block and delete them.
Do not meet with anyone you met online in person at their home or in another private location. This is especially important for younger social media users. It is fine to meet an online friend in a public place like a restaurant or museum. Until you get to know and trust the person, restrict your interactions to public places.
It is also a good idea to keep privacy restrictions on your account as much as possible. On Instagram, you can make your account private so that you have to approve everyone who follows you. This means you can easily weed out a lot of suspicious would-be “friends.”
On Facebook, it is a good idea to lock your profile down so that most of it can be viewed by friends only or only specific groups of friends. Some parts of your profile are forced to be public, but it is a good idea to put as little information into these fields as possible.
Staying Social
Using these social media sites, it is possible to keep up with old friends and new ones. Families can also connect using social media and stay close when they are not allowed to get together in person. Daniel Murphy believes that Facebook and other social media sites are the waves of the future when it comes to making friends.